Westhook Capital has held a final closing of its inaugural fund, Westhook Capital Partners LP, with $140 million in commitments. Investors in the new fund include university endowments, family offices, other institutional investors, and Westhook’s senior professionals.
Westhook is led and was founded by its Managing Partner Michael Hooks, who was previously the co-founder and a Managing Director of Black Canyon Capital, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm which has completed more than $1 billion of investments across a range of industries. Mr. Hooks was with Black Canyon from 2004 to 2017.
Westhook invests in buyouts of US-based lower middle market companies that have EBITDA of $3 million or greater. Sectors of interest include consumer, industrial, business services and healthcare services. Transaction types include control buyouts, management buyouts, and recapitalizations. The new fund will assemble a portfolio of 5 to 6 platform companies.
In addition to Mr. Hooks, the Westhook investment team is comprised of Partner Wesley Knuth, who from 2013 to 2016 was a senior investment professional at Silver Rock Financial, the family office for Michael Milken. Prior to his time at Silver Rock, Mr. Knuth worked at Black Canyon from 2011 to 2012; and Managing Director and Head of Business Development Nate Chandra, who from 2016 to 2017 was a Principal at Tau Capital and led the firm’s business development and transaction origination efforts. Earlier in his career, he was a Vice President with Platinum Equity from 2010 to 2016.
“We are very pleased to complete this fundraise and to formally launch Westhook Capital,” said Mr. Hooks. “Our team is aggressively pursuing investments that fit with our strategy of partnering with management teams to drive growth initiatives, build high-quality companies, and create lasting and impactful value. We sincerely thank our limited partners for their support, trust and confidence in the Westhook team, and we look forward to working collaboratively with our future portfolio companies as we seek to generate strong returns.”
Westhook Capital is headquartered in Los Angeles (www.westhook.com).
© 2018 Private Equity Professional | September 11, 2018